The Catholic Gene celebrates the “Legacy of Religious Freedom”

Many of our immigrant ancestors set off on arduous, expensive and potentially life-threatening journeys to the United States for various reasons, very few of them trivial. They left their homelands in search of opportunities for work, chances to own land, and other ways to better their lives.

Like the first pilgrims that set foot in what would become New England, many immigrants over the centuries also came to America in search of religious freedom, Catholics included.

Today is the first day of the Fortnight for Freedom, a two-week period designated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as a national campaign of teaching and witness for religious liberty. It was inspired by recent challenges to this freedom in the United States, as Pope Benedict XVI describes: efforts to “deny the right of conscientious objection on the part of Catholic individuals and institutions with regard to cooperation in intrinsically evil practices” and the “tendency to reduce religious freedom to mere freedom of worship without guarantees of respect for freedom of conscience”. (Ad limina address to Bishops of the United States, January 19, 2012)

The Bishops have challenged Catholics to focus their thoughts and prayers during this two week period on the importance of the right to a living, active faith unhindered by the restrictions of government.

We need, therefore, to speak frankly with each other when our freedoms are threatened. Now is such a time. As Catholic bishops and American citizens, we address an urgent summons to our fellow Catholics and fellow Americans to be on guard, for religious liberty is under attack, both at home and abroad. – United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, April 14, 2012

This topic is vitally important to people of all faiths, not just Catholics. Here at The Catholic Gene – where we gather to share the stories of our Catholic family history – we would like to hear your stories. What has religious freedom meant to your family? Did your ancestors flee a country that would not allow them to worship freely (like many 20th century Mexican immigrants)? Did they meet with persecution because of their faith? Or did they play a role in preserving and strengthening their community of faith during times in history when religious freedom faced no obstacles?

Prayers written in the 17th century by Jesuit priest Andrew White, first Catholic missionary to the Maryland colony

As with many of our American values, the commitment to religious freedom has seen its ups and downs. Do you have Catholic ancestors who first settled the Maryland colony later to be impacted by new laws against Catholic education and the destruction of Catholic schools? Do you have family members who told stories about anti-Catholic sentiment against political candidates? Or did your ancestors worship in other faiths and face religious persecution in other countries? Share your stories with us in the comments section here at The Catholic Gene.

The challenge facing you, dear friends, is to increase people’s awareness of the importance for society of religious freedom; to defend that freedom against those who would take religion out of the public domain and establish secularism as America’s official faith. And it is vitally necessary for the very survival of the American experience, to transmit to the next generation the precious legacy of religious freedom and the convictions which sustain it. – Blessed John Paul II, Baltimore, Basilica of the Assumption, 1995

Help us take time to remember the stories of some of those who risked their lives and their livelihoods for the ability to worship and practice their faith freely, and the stories of those that lived inspiring lives of faith during the springtimes of religious freedom. We hope that readers will be inspired to look at the history of our religious freedom in the United States, and join in prayer for the continuation of this vital liberty that is so important to us as Americans.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. – First Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights

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About Lisa / Smallest Leaf

Poet. Genealogist. Home educator.
A proud descendant of early 20th-century Hungarian/Croatian and 19th-century Irish immigrants to America, I am the author of several blogs about various branches of my family tree and the creator of Legacy QuickGuides for Hungarian, Croatian and Catholic genealogical research. My first book of poetry was winner of the 2014 Eakin Book Award given by the Poetry Society of Texas. Visit me on the web at smallestleaf.com.

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You struck a chord with this post. Religion, and the desire to practice our faiths, has been a constant theme in our family. It has been much in my thoughts as I read and reflect on our Church today. A Church that has both sustained our family and lost others by its attempts to limit the expressions of their faith.

I tremendously enjoyed reading your articles about the faith of your family and your husband’s family and your interest in, as you wrote, “tracing [your] religious lineage” even more than your traditional lineage. (Which turns out to be quite complicated!)

You wrote, “We define ourselves by race, by ethnicity, and some of us, by our religions.” There are many facets of genealogy that make it so interesting, and I, too, can relate to the desire to trace the lineage of faith that my family has handed down to me. I’ve expressed that often on my own personal blogs. That is also one of the big reasons why I enjoy contributing to The Catholic Gene.

Thanks again for commenting and sharing your personal stories of faith and genealogy.

Thank you for a thoughtful and timely post on a subject so dear to many of us. The subject of religious freedom is one that surfaces so often during the research of our family tree, and begs us to stop and consider if we are effective custodians of the freedom that so many risked so much for. I look forward to the ongoing discussion on your blog.

Thanks very much for your comment, Lisa. I especially appreciate your thought that the discoveries we make during our research “beg us to stop and consider if we are effective custodians of the freedom that so many risked so much for”.

I believe this is one of the most compelling reasons for doing genealogy: the inspiration we receive from the lives and struggles of those who have gone before us.